CONDOM
A condom is disclosed herein that may include a body having an open end, a closed end and at least a first region and a second region. The first region may have a first diameter and the second region may have a second diameter that is larger than the first diameter. Accordingly, during use, the second region may operate to repeatably slip or telescope over the first region.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/774,573 filed on Feb. 17, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONDisclosed herein is a male or female condom having a body with regions of different diameter. In use, the reciprocating movement of the body and/or changing length of an erect penis may result in a region having a larger diameter being at least partially folded or telescoped over (or onto) an adjacent region having a smaller diameter.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIt is generally desirable to maintain the open end of a condom as close as possible to the base of the penis on which the condom is positioned. Unfortunately, the natural shape of a male member (which is generally thicker at the base with an upward taper) and friction against the rolled condom outer ring (the normal outer ring of male condoms) caused by thrusting and pull-out may cause a condom to want to roll-up during use.
Prior art condoms may also permit uncontrolled bunching of material along random portions of the condom body. This indiscriminate bunching may occasionally form large masses of material in a single area. This unpredictable and unwanted large circumference of bunched material can create significant frictional adhesion between the penis and vaginal wall such that the entire condom is pulled up or tugged forward along the shaft of the penis to uncover or expose more of the base of the penis shaft. Another description would be to say that prior art condoms “ride up” along the shaft of the penis towards the tip of the penis. This “riding up” is a component in the condom the slipping off the penis during use (i.e., condom failure).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONDisclosed herein is condom having a body that includes regions of different diameter. These regions of different diameter may function such that during use in intercourse the reciprocating movement of the condom body and/or a changing length of an erect penis may result in a region of a larger diameter being at least partially folded or telescoped over or onto an adjacent region having a smaller diameter.
These regions of varying size may be positioned along the length of the condom body, with the smallest diameter regions, or tightest-fitting regions typically (but not exclusively) being at specific points along the shaft including: 1) proximate the open end of the pouch; 2) at mid-point of the pouch; and/or 3) at a position on the pouch that, during use of the condom, would be located behind the glans penis.
Two components of the disclosed condom may also work together to hold the condom in place. First, tighter-fitting regions may keep the condom in place during use: 1) with an erection of varying length due to changing erectile state, particularly when comparing the full length of the actual condom pouch to the length of the erection, which can be the lesser of the two; 2) during a lessening of the erectile state of a male member; or 3) if one used a condom longer than need, which may cause excess condom material to bunch up.
Second, the larger diameter regions may help take up slack condom material in an overlapping manner (as opposed to random bunching at a single point). This may be similar to the effect of foreskin covering the glans penis while in a non-erect state. By way of example, the foreskin may slide forward and backward in an overlapping effect since the amount of loose skin is more than required to cover the length of the penis.
The condom may also be placed on a partially to semi-erect penis and held in place at the open end through a tight-fitting outer ring at the open end. Such an arrangement may allow the length of the condom pouch material to overlap along the length of the erection as needed. Further, any excess condom material may be operable to retract or extend itself in predetermined segments due to the differing circumference sizes along the length of the shaft.
Accordingly, the condom disclosed herein may rearrange its pouch material in a way to nullify excessive and uncontrolled bunching through the use of tight-fitting regions (e.g., less than or equal to the open end diameter of the condom) and regions of controlled overlapping of material. Both of these regions may reduce condom “pull-up or riding up” and thereby aid in keeping the penis covered as completely as possible to reduce instances of skin-on-skin contact between sexual partners. There may also be less of an opportunity for a condom slip off and for condom failure. Furthermore, asymmetrical shaped or non-conventional non-straight-walled condoms (e.g., pouched or spiral designs) have increased the tendency of condoms to bunch up on the erect penis because of increased frictional adhesion along the shaft or condom tip. In fact, increased frictional adhesion is the intended purpose of these non-straight-walled, or special-shaped condoms. The condom disclosed here helps to alleviate this uncontrolled bunching, while maintaining or creating frictional adhesion by way of the condom's own folding action created by the various segments or regions. The disclosed condom may thus be used in conjunction with these non-conventional designs, as well as conventional regular straight-walled condoms. Finally, since male condom sizes in particular are often limited by standards of minimum and maximum lengths and widths, the condom disclose herein may assist in making these regulated condoms more adaptable to all wider variety of users of all sizes and varying degrees of erection.
As mentioned above, this disclosure is a Non-Provisional application of Provisional application 60/774,573, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Reference will now be had to the attached drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout and wherein:
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Having thus described my invention, various other embodiments will become known to those having skill in the art that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. A condom comprising:
- an elongated body having an open end, a closed end, a first region and a second region, the first region having a first diameter and the second region having a second diameter, the second diameter being larger than the first diameter, such that during use of the condom the second region is operable to slip over the first region.
2. The condom of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises a third region having a third diameter, the third diameter being larger than the second diameter.
3. The condom of claim 2, wherein the body further comprises a fourth region having a fourth diameter, the fourth diameter being larger than the third diameter.
4. The condom of claim 1, further comprising a pair of second regions and wherein the first region is positioned along the body of the condom between the pair of second regions.
5. The condom of claim 2, further comprising a pair of second regions and wherein the third region is positioned along the body of the condom between the pair of second regions.
6. The condom of claim 1, further comprising a pair of first regions and a pair of second regions and wherein the pair of second regions are positioned along the body of the condom between the pair of first regions.
7. The condom of claim 2, further comprising a pair of first regions and a pair of third regions and wherein the pair of third regions are positioned along the body of the condom between the pair of first regions.
8. The condom of claim 2, wherein the first region is positioned along the body of the condom adjacent the third region.
9. The condom of claim 1 wherein the condom is a male condom.
10. The condom of claim 9, wherein the body further comprises a head portion.
11. The condom of claim 10, wherein the head portion further comprises a base operable to engage the sulcus of a male member.
12. The condom of claim 11, wherein the base of the head portion is angled toward from the open end of the body.
13. The condom of claim 11, wherein the base of the head portion is angled away from the open end of the body.
14. The condom of claim 1, wherein the condom is a female condom.
15. The condom of claim 14, further comprising a fluid located within the body proximate the closed end and wherein the first region is positioned along the body proximate the closed end to inhibit the migration of the fluid from the closed end toward the open end.
16. A condom comprising:
- an elongated body having an open end, a closed end, a first region and a pair of second regions and a third region, the first region being positioned between the pair of second regions and having a first diameter, each second region having a second diameter that is larger than the first diameter, the third region having a diameter larger than the second diameter, such that during use of the condom the third region is operable to repeatably slip over a second region.
17. The condom of claim 16, wherein the body further comprises a fourth region having a fourth diameter, the fourth diameter being larger than the third diameter.
18. The condom of claim 16, further comprising a pair of third regions and wherein the pair of second regions are positioned along the body of the condom between the pair of third regions.
19. The condom of claim 16 wherein the condom is a male condom.
20. A condom comprising:
- an elongated body having a wall, the wall defining an open end, a closed end, a first region, a second region and a third region of the body, the first region having a first diameter, the second region being positioned along the wall adjacent the first region and having a second diameter that is larger than the first diameter, the third region being positioned along the wall adjacent the second region and having a third diameter that is larger than the second diameter such that during use of the condom the second region is operable to repeatably slip in a reciprocating manner over the first region and the third region is operable to repeatably slip in a reciprocating manner over the second region.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 19, 2007
Publication Date: Sep 2, 2010
Patent Grant number: 8025062
Inventor: Brian Osterberg (Petoskey, MI)
Application Number: 12/279,813